The National Power Corporation (Filipino: Pambansang Korporasyon sa Elektrisidad), also known as the NPC or Napocor, is a state-owned company that serves as the largest provider and generator of electricity in the Philippines. It is also the principal power provider for Manila Electric, the only power distributor in the Metro Manila area.
The National Power Corporation was created under Commonwealth Act No. 120 approved by President Manuel L. Quezon on November 3, 1936. The law nationalized the hydroelectric industry and reserved for the use of NPC, all streams, lakes and springs in the Philippines where power may be developed, subject to existing rights. The corporation was originally organized as a non- stock public corporation under Commonwealth Act No. 120. In 1960, however, under Republic Act No. 2641, it was converted into a stock corporation, wholly government-owned, with a capitalization of PHP100 million.
The most significant achievement of NPC in 1988 was the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) for the takeover by NPC of the generation facilities of electrical cooperatives in the remote islands of the archipelago. President Aquino’s directive pegged electricity rates nationwide to no more than PHP2.50 per kilowatt-hour and impelled NPC to take over the electricity production activities of cooperatives in the small islands and isolated areas.
As of April 1991, the NPC has taken over the generation facilities and technical operation of various electric cooperatives of 26 remote islands of the archipelago. Fully supportive of the government’s policy of encouraging private sector investments, the NPC has finalized in 1989 the implementing rules and regulations of Executive Order No.215, which allows private investors to participate in electric power generation through schemes such as Cogeneartion, Build-Operate Transfer (BOT), and Build-Own-Operate (BOO). This directive bolsters the national policy of encouraging active private sector involvement in the major economic activities of the country, recognizing that the private sector can be a partner in nation-building.